Heat wave hits Beijing, temperature spikes

Beijing, June 16 On Friday, the Chinese capital of Beijing renewed an orange alert for high temperatures, with the day's maximum temperature expected to reach 39 degrees Celsius amid an ongoing heat wave, according to local weather authorities.

As the heat wave continues to scorch the city, temperatures in most parts of Beijing will reach 37 to 39 degrees Celsius on Friday and Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Beijing will record an even higher ground temperature during the scorching heat.

"The road surface temperature will reach more than 50 degrees Celsius, which can easily cause road damage, vehicle tire blowout, spontaneous combustion and other traffic accidents," said Lei Lei, chief forecaster of the municipality's meteorological observatory.

This week, more than 2 million sq.km of regions in China, covering Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan and Shandong, have been gripped by the sweltering weather, with days of high temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius.

On Friday, China's national observatory also renewed a yellow alert for high temperatures.

According to the latest forecast, seven provincial-level regions are expected to see some parts with hot weather of over 40 degrees Celsius on Friday.

The latest round of heat waves started on Wednesday.

On Thursday, eight capital cities in China's provincial-level regions had recorded their highest temperatures of 2023.

Shijiazhuang, capital of the northern Hebei province, took the lead, as its daily maximum temperature reached 40.4 degrees Celsius, the first time the city exceeded 40 degrees this year.

Meteorological centres across the country have advised the public to avoid outdoor activities during high-temperature periods in the afternoon and suggested that workers exposed to high temperatures adopt necessary protective measures.

China has a four-tier, colour-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Chinese meteorologists refer to days when the daily maximum temperature reaches more than 35 degrees Celsius as "high temperature days".